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German Election 2025: Who are the top candidates for German federal elections?

2025 German Federal Election: High energy prices, competition from the Chinese players have hit the industries of Germany hard and the German economy has been plunging since the past two years.

Olaf Scholz of the German Social Democratic party, Robert Habeck of the Green party, Friedrich Merz of the German Christian Democratic Union and Alice Weidel of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, take part in a tv discussion in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025 of the German top candidates for the German federal election on Feb. 23, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/DPA via AP, Pool)

German Election 2025: Germany is gearing up for a snap election on February 23 and the race to be the next chancellor and lead the next government is heating up after the collapse of centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition last year.

The European Union’s biggest economy is reeling with economic challenges, geopolitical tensions and a series of deadly attacks have heightened pressure on the mainstream parties to reform the migration rules, alongside the asylums. Germany will voter for their next parliament from 08:00-18:00 on February 23.

High energy prices, competition from the Chinese players have hit the industries of Germany hard and the German economy has been plunging since the past two years. The onus would lie on the incoming dispensation to turn around the tide favouring the German economy.

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Election posters showing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and CDU top candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz in Frankfurt, Germany. (AP Photo)

Here are some top candidates vying to become German Chancellor:

Olaf Scholz

The 66-year-old chancellor of Germany has been at the helm of an unpopular coalition since December 2021 and the coalition lost its majority in a row over loosening Germany’s strict debt rules.

Scholz is a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, and is an experienced candidate with prior experience as the mayor of Hamburg and Germany’s finance and labour minister.

Also Read | Why is the far-right AfD party’s victory in a German regional election significant?

However, many in his party believe that Scholz should have paved the way for party colleague Boris Pistorius to run for the chancellor’s election. Scholz made sure that Germany became the second largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine, in its conflict with Russia.

Friedrich Merz

The 69-year-old frontrunner in Germany to win the upcoming snap elections on Sunday, Friedrich Merz of Christian Democrats (CDU), is already leading with 10 points in the polls.

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Merz has promised permanent border control and new asylum rules to restrict immigration, alongside slashing taxes and revoking the €50 billion in welfare spending to counter the economic challenges being faced by the German economy.

Merz has promised to increase aid for Ukraine and have greater leadership from Germany in Europe. He refused to rule out Ukraine’s future membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Alice Weidel

From the far right, Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s 46-year-old Alice Weidel is making her first attempt to become German Chancellor and she is known as the “anti-immigration candidate”.

Though her chances of winning the snap elections are thin, the AfD has set its sight on four years time due to Weidel’s immediate rise by becoming popular with young voters on TikTok.

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Weidel has supported the mass deportation of migrants, promoted the controversial term ‘remigration’ which she claims is deporting criminals and “illegal” migrants. She would also like to abolish sanctions on Russia and repair the destroyed Nord Stream gas pipelines.

(with inputs from BBC)

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